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Sports and Outdoors

Tennis Training and Development

A tennis training program has to meet the demands of an all-round
physically challenging, individual sport.

For a tennis player to perform at their best, they must have just the
right mix of aerobic and anaerobic endurance, explosive strength and
power, speed off the mark and agility. In fact, the amount of strength,
speed, agility and flexibility conditioning a player is prepared to
undertake has been linked to the standard they play.

A tennis match is characterized by repeated bouts of high-intensity
activity. However, a typical rally may last about 6 seconds (2) and not
much more than 10 seconds even on a clay court. Between points there is
the luxury of up to 25 seconds rest – 90 seconds if it’s a changeover.
Hence, the overall physical demand is closer to prolonged
moderate-intensity exercise (such as distance running) than a true
multisprint sport (such as soccer) (3).

A tennis training program must be based on solid aerobic endurance to
sustain a high work rate for the duration of a game that may last
several hours. Anaerobic endurance is also an essential component so
that power over each rally, and in each shot within a rally can be
maintained to same high level.

On average a tennis player will move just 3 meters per shot and 8-12
meters during a point (5). It becomes obvious that good speed and
quickness around the court is essential in order to reach the majority
of these shots. During a match 48% of a players movement is sideways
(6) so agility, or the ability to change direction rapidly and under
control becomes equally as important.

Finally, a balanced tennis training program should help to prevent
injury and over training. For example, a preventative program of wrist
extensor strengthening and stretching exercises can help to prevent
tennis elbow (7). Specific exercises can also be prescribed to reduce
the risk of rotator cuff damage.

Take a look through the articles on our website as we uncover some of
the key principles involved in the complete tennis training approach -